Charles Hayward knows a thing or three about singing drummers, as he was one of the most heartfelt and beastly for one of the world’s greatest post-punk groups, This Heat. Thanks to Seattle/LA label Light in the Attic, you can experience his excellent multi-tasking on the newly reissued This Heat, Deceit, and Health and Efficiency from the band’s 1979-1981 heyday. In a piece he wrote for the UK magazine The Wire, Hayward surveys 14 percussionist/vocalists who’ve made a deep impression on him. His survey includes some expected names (Tony Williams, Magma‘s Christian Vander, Soft Machine’s Robert Wyatt, Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale) and some unexpected ones (Karen Carpenter, Ringo Starr, the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz). Sure, Phil Collins is conspicuous in his absence, as is Peter Rivera from Rare Earth. Regardless, Hayward’s overview is entertaining and enlightening. Read it here.
